Kelsea Ballerini Performs 'Secondhand Smoke' For The First Time Ever

By Lindsey SmithMay 20, 2020

Kelsea Ballerinirecently celebrated the five-year anniversary of her debut album, The First Time, and took to Instagram to post about the big day — as well as doing something for 'the first time' ever!

As many fans know, Ballerini has a very personal song on the album about her parents called “Secondhand Smoke” and the singer has never performed the song live before.

But in honor of The First Time turning five, she played part of the song for the very first time ever. On Tuesday (May 19), she uploaded an acoustic version of the song featuring just her powerful voice and her guitar.

“Secondhand smoke is the one song I’ve put on an album that I knew I would never perform live because it was something too real for me to get through,” she explained in the video's caption. “I thought a way to celebrate my first album would be to play a bit for you for the first time...five years later. // ps- you don’t have to choke. pss- I love my parents.”

Fans immediately flocked to Ballerini's comments section to thank her for playing the song because they've been through similar experiences and also gave her accolades for having the strength to sing it.

“This song means so much to me and I’ve waited years to hear it live from you, but I totally understand why you couldn’t perform it. I am both a child of separation and now I’m a step-mom to a child of split homes/parents as well. This song has brought healing to me in so many ways and perspectives.” one fan wrote.

Kelsea also shared clips of the music videos for some of the album's singles including “Yeah Boy,” “Dibs,” and “Peter Pan” along with a note to fans.

“I hope this album helped you through heartbreaks, made you feel sassy and flirty and empowered, and gave you a soundtrack to sing and dance to throughout the years,” she wrote.